How the things we touch affect our judgments and decisions

Original source: SimoleonSense.com .

H/T The following blogs that have linked to this study

1. Uveal Blues (Great blog)

2. Scientific American

3. Discover

Introduction (Via Discover)

When you pick up an object, you might think that you are manipulating it, but in a sense, it is also manipulating you. Through a series of six psychological experiments, Joshua Ackerman from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology has shown that the properties that we feel through touch – texture, hardness, weight – can all influence the way we think.

Weight is linked to importance, so that people carrying heavy objects deem interview candidates as more serious and social problems as more pressing. Texture is linked to difficulty and harshness. Touching rough sandpaper makes social interactions seem more adversarial, while smooth wood makes them seem friendlier. Finally, hardness is associated with rigidity and stability. When sitting on a hard chair, negotiators take tougher stances but if they sit on a soft one instead, they become more flexible.

These influences are not trivial – they can sway how people react in important ways, including how much money they part with, how cooperative they are with strangers, or how they judge an interview candidate.

Click Here To Read: How the things we touch affect our judgments and decisions

Click Here For The Original Research: Incidental Haptic Sensations Influence Social Judgments and Decisions